Tuesday, August 30, 2011

"All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on."

-Havelock Ellis

We survived the first day! Well . . . what I really mean is I did . . . She was as happy as could be with her new dinosaur backpack (that's practically as tall as she is) and "big-kid" school to look forward to . . .

"How'd you like your first day of First Grade?" "Good!" She announced. "There's a lotsa kids there and my teacher is really funny. I think she's playful. . . Plus, now I'm one year closer to becoming a Paleontologist!" (Oh, how I love that kid!) "That's right Baby Girl, you sure are . . ."

Monday, August 15, 2011

"The sun rose brilliantly above, reflecting the hues of red, orange, lavender and blue in the pond before me. The viridian shadows changed to lemon yellow and lime green as the light washed the morning and I tried in vain to save a piece of this miracle on canvas."

- Mary Erickson

Thank You!Thank you for joining me in The Summer of Color! Thank you to those who participated by sharing their art and heart with us throughout the course of the event, thank you to those who fostered such a lovely community on Facebook and Flickr, and thank you to those who took the time to follow me personally. It has been a pleasure getting to know and learn from you all.

But Before We Go:I'm happy to announce that the winner of our last - very colorful and sparkly - giveaway (pictured in the post below) is. . .

Monday, August 8, 2011

"He who wishes to become a master of color must see, feel and experience each individual color in it's endless combinations with all other colors."

- Johannes Itten

Orange you glad you did it?

I had to. . . Please allow me to start by saying that the Orange pieces you shared with us last week were simply beautiful. Your art was bright, bold and full of life. Thank you for your time, energy and enthusiasm as we traveled through the last leg of our color journey together. It has been such a pleasure.

And since we start every week with a Giveaway Winner . . .

Let's not stop now. The winner of the Orange goodies (pictured in the post below) is:

On this - our last week of The Summer of Color together - I love it if you'd give us a little show. . . Wether you joined in every color prompt or not, this week's challenge is to somehow bring it all together and show us what you accomplished throughout the Summer. You can create an altered journal cover or folder as I've done here, make something to put your ATC or smaller projects in or, if you've done a variety of projects, simply showcase your work on a wall, a slideshow on your blog or a series of photographs. However you'd like to share your work is up to you. This will be our final adieu to our colorful Summer of connection and community together. . .

As for Me . . .

I created an altered journal folder using the cardboard backs of two watercolor paper pads and canvas fabric. If you're interested, I'll be sharing an online album on our Facebook page showing the process step-by-step. If you haven't done so already, please feel free to join the group anytime. The rest of my Summer "Arting" can be found below:

You're Next! (Monday August 8th - Sunday August 14th)

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've done! And for your efforts, our last (very sparkly and colorful ;) giveaway for those who complete the "Show & Tell" challenge will be . . .

{A 24 piece set of (the oh so gorgeous) Martha Stewart fine glitters, a 12 piece set of Prismacolor professional colored pencils, an EK Success Rainbow Color Selector and a hefty sprinkling of colorful Swarovski flat-back crystals and beads.}

Good Luck! And please note: since there is no Bonus! challenge this week, the random winner will come directly off of the link list. Please put your name in the hat by linking your "Show & Tell" post or Flickr feed in the widget below. The winner will be announced here next Monday.

Please Allow Me to Thank . . .

Believe it or not, we had an average of 92 people join us on a weekly basis for our color prompts and have amassed over 460 pictures in our Flickr pool! It was an amazing Summer and I would be remiss if I did not thank some of the special people who helped to make The Summer of Color such a success. Thank you Leslie for being my original sounding board when I questioned wether or not this event I had in my head really had any merit. She shared with me her insights from hosting past events and helped me spread the word before it began. Thank you Leslie for all of your support. Thank you Trisha for starting our Facebook group, without which this event would not have been the same. The community and connection we all created there took The Summer of Color to another level altogether. Thank you Trisha for being an amazing cheerleader and pillar of support. I am so grateful for your help. And last (but not - well you know), thank you Michelle for bringing a little class up in here. She is the creative genius behind all of The Summer of Color advertising, banner displays and of course that beautiful button. Not only did she create my blog background and header, but she is always willing to take an idea and make it better than anything I could have dreamed of. Thank you Michelle for everything you did to make the event so beautiful!

Speaking of Beautiful . . .

Michelle made something for you! As a token of our thanks for all that you did this Summer, please feel free to copy and paste this "I'm A Summer of Color Artist" badge and do with it what you will. I hope you'll love it as much as we do . . .

So Now What?

I know. I miss it already too. Well, since you asked, our Facebook group is going to remain open. You have created such a beautiful community there, that I wouldn't even think of changing it. I will check in periodically to see what you're up to and am looking forward to continuing our endless Summer together there. I will leave our Flickr pool open for another week before putting it to bed. If you'd like to contribute your work to our Flickr page, please feel free to do so until next Sunday, August 14th. After that, I will continue to have both the Facebook and Flickr links up on my sidebar so you can peruse the colorful art at any time. Also (deep breath), I want to encourage you to submit your work for consideration to Stampington & Company (the makers of Somerset Studio). It's not for nothin' that our last Bonus! challenge was to include your favorite quote - it also happens to be one of the next calls for artwork (deadline: October 15th) for publishing consideration. If you have always wanted to submit your work and have not done so, now is the time. Go out there and make us proud! And then tell us about your success on our Facebook page . . .

Oh! And One More Thing!

(Did you see it already?) It was hard to keep a straight face as you all were asking if this was going to be it . . . And No. It. Is. Not. Drumroll please as I eagerly announce . . .

The Summer of Color 2: Ice Cream Inspirations

That's right! Another Summer of creativity, connection and community based upon the colorful hues, feelings and textures found in your favorite Ice Cream flavors. As with this year, it will be a free event open to all styles of art and mediums. We will begin Monday, June 4th, 2012 with an introductory week followed bysix weeks of color prompts, blog hops and giveaways based upon the Summer essential itself. I can picture it now . . . the rich textures and earthy colors of Rocky Road, the sticky sweetness of Raspberry Sorbet or the child-like art that comes to mind with Bubble Gum Ice Cream . . . Oh! How 'bout . . .

Monday, August 1, 2011

{This collage was inspired by the sections of an orange and a familiar joke. It was created using personal pictures (that's Kendra with the lollipop ;), vintage text, a portion of a soda can and images from Lisa's Altered Art}

The Color Purple

As we head into our last two weeks of The Summer of Color, I must say that I'm endlessly impressed by the work you've been creating and sharing with us here. Your Purple pieces were majestic, fun, feminine, whimsical and downright beautiful. I'm amazed at the outpouring of support you've given to one another and want to thank you for sharing your links with us here, your pictures on our Flickr group (we're nearing 350 contributions!) and for the creative community you've fostered on our Facebook page. It's been quite a ride . . .

We saved one of the boldest hues for last and I for one can not wait to see what you come up with. Should you choose to accept it, your Bonus! challenge is to in some way incorporate (or be inspired by) your favorite quote or poem. As always,please (A) link your blog or Flickr feed in the Widget below so that others can find you (B) leave one comment in the comment section at the end of this post if you created an Orange piece and (C) leave an additional comment if you completed the Bonus! challenge.

Our last challenge - Monday August 8 - Sunday August 14th - is rather simple: we're gonna have a good ole fashioned Show and Tell. Wether you joined every challenge or not, in order to participate next week, please share with us the body of work you created throughout The Summer of Color. Now, how you do that is up to you. If you created a series of journal pages as I have for example, you may want to make a journal cover and show us the pieces within it. If you created a series of canvas work, perhaps you can give us a gallery showing of how they look on the wall. Or if you've made a variety of items, you may just want to share pictures of your work. Wether it's a slideshow or a compilation of shots, the choice is yours. It will be the final adieu to our Summer of creativity and connection together. . .

Will There be a Giveaway in the Last Week?

Yep. Although there will be no Bonus! challenge in our last week together, we will link our posts or Flickr feeds and there will be a beautiful, sparkling, colorful giveaway . . . see you then . . .